If you’re looking to improve your athletic performance then you might want to load up your iPod with some Eminem before hitting the gym. A study by Hartpury University Centre, in Gloucestershire has found that listening to the rapper’s music has the ability to boost an athlete’s performance by 10%.

Eminem’s music has been proven to make you run faster.

Researchers at the uiversity studied the physiological effects of different styles of music on British swimmer Ben Hooper, before his 2,000-mile Atlantic swim in December. They found that when Hooper was listening to tracks by the Detroit rapper he felt less tired and more alert.

The key is that songs by Eminem such as ‘Lose Yourself’, ‘Not Afraid’ and ‘Without Me’, have a “highly motivational edge” that makes them particularly effective over long distances, leading them to “significantly” increase both power and endurance during prolonged and intense exercise.

Hooper’s speed also increased by just under 10% when he was listening to Eminem. But the research also showed that lyrics with an “emotional resonance” were more important to Hooper than the tunes’ tempo and rhythm.

“Rhythm is important, in that athletes should listen to music that is a little bit faster than their usual pace,” said head researcher Richard Collins. “Our work with Ben, however, highlights the importance of emotional impact.”

“The music still needs to be at a brisk pace, but we found tracks with an emotional resonance can boost performance and endurance as much as 10%. These songs may help Ben to push through the pain.This could be because these emotionally tied songs help Ben muscle down and push through the pain and monotony of swimming so many lengths.”

Other artists that were shown to help an athletes performance include, The Script and Swedish House Mafia. But the research also found that songs by Bob Marley and Morcheeba brought no noticeable improvement in speed and required more effort during the laps, even when being listened to at a loud volume.